


Written by...

by BlueberryYogurt



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Post Seal The Deal, mentions of DJ Grooves, mentions of Moon Penguins, nearly dying and losing family can change a man just saying, or in this case change an owl, the Express Owls are Good Kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 11:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueberryYogurt/pseuds/BlueberryYogurt
Summary: A month-long vacation can put a lot of stress on a movie director. The Express Owls decided to help out.





	Written by...

**Author's Note:**

> This idea is brought to you by my dumb brain screaming at me at 3 in the morning about Conductor angst revolving around the fact that he nearly lost his grandchildren to a sinking ship that evolved into how the studio would react to the news that evolved into focusing on the Express Owls and how good they are and the headcanon that they look up to The Conductor! This also may or may not be based on a roleplay that a friend and I haven't even started yet that takes place postgame but who knows really hfwgkaufwa
> 
> Once again this thing isn't beta read so this is all my doing and thus it probably isn't that good. But it's here regardless and I hope you enjoy!

“You give it to him!”

“No way! It was your idea to pitch this to him in the first place!”

“What? It wasn’t me!”

“Well then, whose idea was it?”

The small group of Express Owls all stopped, looking at one another for a moment before turning to a single member of the group.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

The owl addressed feels a wave of fear wash over him with all the eyes on him, his distress a clear answer to the others that yes he was the one who had thought this was a good idea.

It had been something close to a month that The Conductor had been away from his work, a short vacation with his grandchildren that had become extended after the ship they had been on sunk. The news had caused quite a panic in the studio and not exclusively for the owls. There had been a few Moon Penguins on that cruise as well, and while DJ Grooves wouldn’t admit it to their boss’ face the Express Owls hadn’t missed the concern in the director’s voice when he’d asked about the status of his rival. Everyone was shaken up by the event, but thanks to the help of the alien duo there had been no casualties.

Unless you counted the time lost in producing a new film, which the owls had all agreed The Conductor would throw a fit about. They had all understood though why he’d taken a longer time away, and to help ease the stress of the situation a small team of them had come up with a plan. One that, now that the day had come for their boss to return, they were actually terrified to follow through with.

“W-why don’t we all just do it together? I wasn’t the only one who worked on this!” There was slight panic in the owl’s voice, eyes quickly flicking between the other members of his writing team.

“But you were the one who got us together in the first place. You’re kind of like the leader, so you should do it.” Murmurs of agreement followed the statement, each other owl nodding their head as the leader realized there was no winning this. None of them were going to back him up, rather simply watch from a distance as this surely blew up in their face.

The owl looked at the paper in his hand, reading over the words for a moment. At least they’d settled together that it would be less painful if they gave only a little bit of information to The Conductor, so hopefully this would be over quickly. Besides, this wasn’t the first time the yellow owl had chewed him out. What was the worst that could happen?

It was at that moment that the doors to their side of the studio flew open, and standing in the doorway, looking as confident as ever, was their boss. Almost instantly the other Express Owls in the group vanished, hiding behind a wall as they all collectively listened as the loud bird starts calling orders as usual, as if he hadn’t been on a month-long vacation at all. The lead owl swallowed a lump in his throat, glanced over at the rest of his team, and approached his director.

“U-Um, sir?” The Conductor stopped whatever it was he was saying to another bird, attention turned on him. Oh geez. “I um… Well, there was something I-- we wanted to show you-- give you!” He trips over his words uselessly, one of his feathers running over the page nervously.

“Oh yeah? Hurry up then, we don’t have all day.” No hesitation, just a slight head tilt and his arms crossing over his chest. He didn’t even bother to ask what the owl meant by “we” when he was clearly alone. Then again who else could he possibly be referring to?

“You see, um…” He can see The Conductor’s gaze shifting away from the owl’s face and down to the paper in his hand. “Y-you had been gone for so long sir that I-- we uh--”

“Out with it.”

“S-Some of the Express Owls and I thought we could help you b-by…” The brown owl looks down to the paper then back up to the director. Slowly, he offers up the page. “By coming up with a movie idea for you.” The last part is added so quietly, confidence waning as he feels the paper removed from his hand.

Time for the moment of truth.

The Express Owl watches as The Conductor reads what they’d come up with, silence heavy in the air as anticipation started to build. It wouldn’t be long now before the director finished reading, crumpled up the work he and the other’s had spent so much time on, screamed at him to leave the writing to him and to focus on making sure his movie came along smoothly and maybe laugh at him for how cheesy the idea was even though it wasn’t and--

“Where’s the rest of it?”

It takes a moment for the owl to register what The Conductor had said, instinctively flinching at merely the sound of his voice that he hadn’t noticed it wasn’t yelling but rather a simple question. “H-huh?”

“Where’s the rest of it? Ye can’t tell me this is all you and the others came up with.” The director looks down and flicks the page for emphasis, starting to move past the Express Owl who quickly follows in step behind him. “Have ye started working on a script yet? Thought about who’ll be the lead? Supporting cast? Props?” He’s talking quickly, slipping back into his usual work mode so naturally. It has the poor owl following him thrown so far off, trying hard to wrap his head around what was happening. Did he like it?

“Actually sir, we did get started on some of that already. We just--”

“No time for explanations, just go get me what you’ve got.” The Conductor suddenly halts, the Express Owl nearly tripping over him before catching himself and staring wide-eyed at the other. “We’re already weeks behind schedule so get to it. Bring your crew to the office and we’ll start talking details. Now move it!”

Ah, there is the loud train conductor he knew so well.

“Y-yes, sir!” The Express Owl turns quickly, rushing back to the rest of his writing team with his heart leaping in his chest and the biggest grin on his face. This was happening. This was actually happening! The surprised looks on the faces of the other owls upon his return quickly shift into ones of joy at the news, excited chatter breaking out amongst them as the team hurry away to grab the rest of their film. A skeleton at best right now, but it was a start and The Conductor was giving it a chance. Giving them a chance.

There was no doubt in his mind that there would be some creative differences, that some of the scenes the Express Owls had envisioned wouldn’t make it into the finished product, but as of right now the leader couldn’t care. The Conductor hadn’t shut them down, had accepted their little gift without any hesitation. Maybe the older bird was just desperate to get started and stripped of ideas, but again the leader couldn’t care.

Their movie was being made. They’d be in the credits as more than just extras this time.

They couldn’t wait to get started.


End file.
